SSeeaassoonnaallSSttuuddeenntt IIssssuueess

There’s a seasonal ebb andflow when it comes to stu-dent issues. Here are a fewthings your student may beexperiencing this spring:

▲ Some students lose theirmotivation for the finalpush

▲ Spring fever hits andproblems arise as stu-dents become restless

▲ Anticipating the end ofthe year

▲ Frustration and confu-sion develop becauseof class registration

▲ Papers and exams arepiling up

▲ Summer job panic

▲ Feeling like they are nolonger accountable fortheir actions—may turnto vandalism

▲ Sexual assault increases

▲ Concerns about mov-ing home for thesummer

April 2009

■ Don’t forget to clean up your socialnetworking sites. Employers aremembers of Facebook andMySpace too, and the pictureyou paint on your resume maybe tarnished if it doesn’t matchwhatthey per-ceivefrom thepicturespostedon yourweb pro-file.

■ Network,connectand buildrelation-ships now. You may not land thejob, but if you have built connec-tions and impressed a potentialemployer, she may forward yourname/resume on to someoneshe knows is looking too. Everyconnection counts!Also encourage your student to

talk with the knowledgeable careerservices folks on campus, too. Theycan help her formulate a resume toremember!

From Leader Lessons, a weeklynewswire for student leaders and theiradvisors/supervisors,www.paper-clip.com.

The end of the year is only a fewweeks away and for many stu-dents that is the start of the

summer job season. This year—proba-bly more than ever before—your stu-dent wants her resume to JUMP OUT atpotential employers. There is no silverbullet to landing the perfect summerjob or internship. However, taking alittle extra time on the basics couldmake it more likely that your student’sresume makes the final stash versusthe can of trash!

Encourage students to keep thesebasics in mind when creating theirresumes:■ Avoid college slang—don’t make

potential employers guess whatyou are talking about.

■ Don’t go overboard—you have donea lot in your time at college, butyou aren’t writing a memoir, youare compiling a resume. Try tolimit your resume to one to twopages with the highlights of yourexperiences.

■ Make sure you include any volunteerexperiences that provided you withspecific marketable skills. Don’tjust limit your resume to paidpositions.

■ Ask a mentor, supervisor or friend toreview your resume for clarification,typos and to ensure that youdidn’t forget to include anything.

Resume Reminders

Making the final stash versus the can of trash

InspirationCheck out thewinners of theWorld’s BestResume Writercontest atwww.worldsbestresumewriter.com forsome examplessure to inspire.

2

It’s almost time for the mass cam-pus exodus, as campus dwellersvacate their spaces and head to

their summer sites. If your studentlives on campus, here are somethings for you all to start thinkingabout now in order to make asmooth transition:

Getting Info Early.Gathering checkout informationfrom residence hall staff members bygoing to meetings and readingwhat’s being passed out is your stu-dent’s responsibility. So encourageher to ask questions—she’ll be in theknow and ready to go!

Heading Home. How willyour student get home? Discusswhether a van, his own vehicle, aborrowed truck or another modewill work best.

Storing Stuff. Since mostcampuses don’t have summer stor-age space, consider where that rug,microfridge, furniture and more willgo. If your student is moving offcampus next year, maybe he can getpermission to store some stuff overthe summer—it’s better for him toask now, though, rather than expect-ing it’ll be okay at the last minute.Or, he may need to rent a storagespace in town.

Having EnoughContainers. Encourage your stu-dent to gather boxes and bags nowbecause they can be tough to comeby at the very end of the year.Suitcases, duf-fel bags, cratesand plasticcontainerswork well, too.

Startingto Pack. Thepackingshould startbefore move-

Moving Out

out day in order to prevent stress,anxiety and a hectic scramble onthat last day. Indeed!

Cleaning It Up. The dustbunnies and sticky residue will beplentiful once things get boxed up,so prepare your student for theclean-up job ahead. And encourageher to clean as she goes. It’s impor-tant to leave the room clean—notonly is leaving a mess disrespectfulto the kind cleaning staff who havehelped your student all year, there isalso a hefty charge associated withroom cleaning.

Throwing Stuff Out/Recycling. Students need to findout how to recycle and discardunwanted items so they can putthose things in their proper place.Things can’t just be left in the room,waiting for someone else to takecare of them—make sure studentstalk to residence hall staff to get thescoop.

Move-out is an inevitable neces-sity that students can’t ignore.Doing so will just make their finalday in the halls messy, confusingand expensive, if they don’t followthe process in place. Better to get theinfo now and plan ahead for asmooth transition!

Most Men Don’t WantHard-Drinking Dates, StudyShows

Miscommunication betweengenders continues to be an issue onmany of today’s college campuses.Case in point: Many collegewomen believe that college menare drawn to them when they’vebeen drinking excessively. Exceptthe truth, according to a new study,is that 71% of these women overes-timate the amount of alcohol thatthe typical college man hopes hisdate would imbibe.

Drinking to attract male atten-tion and to pursue intimate rela-tionships was a rationale found bythe study done at LoyolaMarymount University. “There is agreat, and risky, disconnectbetween the sexes,” lead authorJoseph LaBrie, an associate profes-sor of psychology at the campus,told The Washington Times(3/10/09). “While not all womenmay be drinking simply to get aguy’s attention, this study mayhelp explain why more women aredrinking at dangerous levels."

Research shows that collegewomen have been drinking moreand more—binge drinking is up22% among college women,according to the National Centeron Addiction and Substance Abuseat Columbia University. This isdouble the increase seen amongcollege men.

What parents can do in themidst of this scenario is to sharethese types of statistics with theirstudents. Females need to knowthat men aren’t necessarily lookingfor the “girl gone wild” when itcomes to alcohol. And males needto know that these assumptions areout there so they can set the recordstraight. Healthier students andhealthier relationships are on theline.

The Rise of EmotionsSaying goodbye on move-out

day can get emotional for somestudents. It may hit them thatthey’re leaving behind some greatfriends for the summer—or maybelonger for those who are graduat-ing. So, be prepared that move-outday won’t just be about the pack-ing and cleaning tasks. Your stu-dent may want to track downfriends, spend some time and saygood-bye in his own way.

Getting ready for move-out day

The Month of Mirth is upon us,as National Humor Monthtakes center stage. And infus-

ing a little bit of humor into your stu-dent’s life could be just what sheneeds during this busy month!

Here are a few ways to do justthat:■ Make Some Mad Libs. At www.edu-

place.com/tales you can createyour own “Wacky Web Tales”and come up with some prettywild stories. Send the link toyour student, along with a sam-ple one you did, just to makehim giggle.

■ Tap Into Your Inner Muppet.Encourage friends and family toquickly take the “What Muppetare You?” quiz at www.quizilla.com/quizzes/102732/what-muppet-are-you. It’s a hoot to seewhich Muppet personality bestfits you!

■ Dress Up the Family Dog. Or guineapig, cat, pot-bellied pig or neigh-bor! Take a photo of this freakishsite and email it to your student,along with a goofy caption.

■ Send a Funny T-Shirt. Whether ithas your student’s favorite cerealon it, a photo of your littlenephew making a wacky face ora word she finds funny (“per-snickety,” perhaps?), send italong for a fashionable funny!

■ Find a YouTube Clip. What was itthat made your student laughwhen he was a kid? Chances are,you might find a clip of it onYouTube! Type in a keyword like“Cookie Monster” or “Elmo” or“Raffi” and you just mightencounter a funny blast from thepast that you can send along toyour student.Sending a bit of mirth to give

your student a laugh could be justwhat he needs right now!

3

Five Funnies for National Humor Month

Candygram!Use an index card or piece of cardstock/cardboard, withdifferent candies conveying your special message…▲ I appreciate all the Nuggets (Hershey’s Nuggets) of

knowledge you share!▲ You make me Snicker—thanks for the laughs!▲ Sending Mounds of support!▲ You have so many great Twix up your sleeve!▲ You’re putting in a Whopper of an effort at school—I’m proud of

you!▲ I love you is the Reese's-son for this card!

Time Management from Different AnglesWe’re all looking for ways to work smarter and more efficiently. And

while time management is often discussed oncampus, here are some different angles to helpstudents who may still be struggling in thisarea…Beware That Stuff Steals Time

It’s so true. When you have too much stuffin your living space, you spend more timelooking for things. By doing a “stuff purge,”students will be better able to get to thingsquickly while staying more organized.Decompress Your Mind

A stressed, overactive mind is not as timeefficient as a calm, collected one is. So, whetherstudents use breathing techniques, exercise orother stress management tools, it’s importantto make them a natural part of their everyday lives. Not only will theirtime usage be more efficient, their body will be healthier.Don’t Over Schedule

There comes a time in some students’ schedules where they just can’tfit anything else in. So, learning to say no is important. It’s much better tobe realistic than trying to be all things to all people. The latter is bound todisappoint someone and to overwhelm your student.Avoid Weekend Reliance

It’s easy to say during the busy weekday, “I’ll get to that over theweekend.” However, weekends often get full, plusit’s important for students to give themselves somedown time, too. So, encourage students not to relyon weekends as their time to get most things done.They can dose it out over the weekdays, too, formaximum efficiency.

Time StealersRandom texting,chatting endlesslydue to unlimitedcell phone minutes,spending hours onvideo games orFacebook… all areTime Stealers. Isthis how studentswant to be spendingtheir precious freetime? Ask them.

Prepared for our institution by PaperClip Communications, www.paper-clip.com. Copyright 2009, 125 Paterson Ave., Little Falls, NJ 07424

4

National Sibling Day is com-ing up on April 10, so focus-ing on family dynamics

makes a lot ofsense. Part ofthe equationcan be birthorder, which,according tosome experts,plays an inte-gral rolewhen itcomes to whywe are the way we are.

Kevin Leman, author of The BirthOrder Book: Why You Are the Way YouAre, says that the following generalcharacteristics fit various birthorders:

An Only Child or First-Bornmay be a perfectionist, reliable, a list-maker, well-organized, critical, seri-ous, scholarly, an achiever, self-sacri-ficing, a people-pleaser, conservative,a supporter of law and order, believein authority and ritual, legalistic,loyal and self-reliant. Only childrenor first-borns often feel confidentthat others take them seriously.

A Middle Child may be amediator, have the fewest pictures inthe family photo album, avoid con-flict, be independent, extremely loyalto a peer group and have specialfriends. Middle children can have themost contradictory characteristics,such as being friendly and outgoingor quiet and shy. They may be theones in the family who get “lost.”

A Youngest Child may bemanipulative, charming, a bit of ashowoff, a people person, a goodsalesperson, precocious, outgoing,affectionate, uncomplicated, rebel-lious, critical, temperamental,spoiled, impatient and impetuous.

Figuring Out Our FamiliesYoungest children may sometimes beviewed as absent-minded and have atough time being taken seriously.

But Wait, There’s More…Of course these are generalities

and characteristics may vary. Birthorder is about the tendencies wehave, based on where we fall in thefamily. Other factors that may influ-ence birth order include:■ Spacing. If there are more than

five years between children, a“second family” of sorts begins,causing children to take on dif-ferent roles than those men-tioned above.

■ Gender. If there are two girls ina family and one boy (or someother mix), that can impact howbirth order plays out.

■ Physicality. The size of kids,their physical beauty/plainness,disabilities and more can alsoturn “typical” birth order pat-terns around.No one person fits all these char-

acteristics. Birth order is but one toolto examine family patterns and rela-tionshipsin thatnever-endingquest tofigure outyourfamily!

Source: Family Issues Facts fromthe University of Maine CooperativeExtension, www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/4359.htm

Taking a look at birth orderIn Honor ofEarth DayEarth Day is April 22.Looking for some inter-esting environmental infoto share with your stu-dent on this occasion?Here are some options:

▲ Ecological Footprints.See what kind ofimpact you’re eachhaving on the planetby figuring out yourecological footprint atwww.earthday.net/footprint/index.html.

▲ Sustainable Suppers.What is this “eatinglocal” thing all about?Check out the greatresources atwww.sustain-abletable.org.

▲ Earth Day Quotes.Find some good onesto share at www.quotegarden.com/earth-day.html.

▲ The Great StuffConundrum. Checkout The Story of Stuffat www.storyofstuff.com. It’s a 20-minuteweb video about ourproduction and con-sumption patterns. Asstudents are gettingready to consolidatetheir stuff before mov-ing home, it could bea good reminder ofways to create a moresustainable, environ-mentally-friendlyworld.

Happy Earth Day to you!